AN SNP candidate whose past work as a solicitor is under investigation has been defended by her former business partner and the First Minister amid fresh allegations.
Nicola Sturgeon backed Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh after the Daily Mail claimed she was being investigated over a trust fund set up for a vulnerable person to which she was a signatory.
Ms Ahmed-Sheikh, who is standing for re-election in Ochil and South Perthshire, confirmed last week that the Law Society of Scotland was examining “administrative matters” relating to her old law firm, Glasgow-based Hamilton Burns.
The Mail also claimed her former partner in the firm, Niall Mickel, was under investigation.
Mr Mickel confirmed the Law Society was looking at a trust following a “routine inspection” of Hamilton Burns, but said he had set it up himself for a family member.
He said: “I set the fund up and put my own money into it, and the trust runs in my name as the Niall Mickel Trust.
“It was previously administered by Tasmina and I when she was a partner in Hamilton Burns.
“The beneficiary of the trust fund upon its term is a member of my immediate family and is not a ‘vulnerable person’.
“The trust is a family trust and Tasmina is no longer involved in its administration.”
He said the Law Society was still finalising its report on the trust but had made “the formal observation that there was no suggestion of dishonesty on my part nor on Tasmina’s in relation to the Trust's administration” and he was “extremely concerned” at the leak of a family matter.
He said: “The suggestion that I am being investigated for financial impropriety in relation to my administration of a Trust for a vulnerable person is absolutely wrong, defamatory and actionable. The hurt, embarrassment and consternation caused to my family by these entirely spurious allegations is enormous and the damage to my professional reputation incalculable.”
It is understood Ms Ahmed-Sheikh, 46, learned of the investigation several weeks ago, before the SNP confirmed her as a candidate.
Ms Sturgeon told BBC Scotland: “The Law Society investigates many, many complaints about solicitors every year and just because a complaint is raised and an investigation is under way does not mean there has been wrongdoing on the part on the part of the lawyer concerned.”
The Tories suggested there had been a “cover-up” and demanded the First Minister “end her silence” on the affair.
Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said: “This whole episode stinks. It’s quite clear the SNP should withdraw all support from Mrs Ahmed-Sheikh in this election. Everything points to an official SNP cover-up going straight to Nicola Sturgeon’s door. The SNP must now come clean.”
Scottish Labour’s election manager James Kelly added: “This is a devastating allegation. Quite simply, Nicola Sturgeon must immediately suspend Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh.”
Ms Ahmed-Sheikh has said she remains “proud of my 17-year career in the legal profession”.
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